A year after the earthquake and Nepal is still a country of tarpaulins, tents and tin-roofed shack

After flying out on April 19 last year, Row realised how dangerous the trek was to be when they met their guides, Pasang and Raman, who told them they would have a helicopter to airlift them out if emergency struck.

Five days into their trip, Row was suffering altitude sickness and wanted to turn back.

However, a French couple they met on the way up persuaded the pair to keep going. It was a decision that would save their lives.

Six hours later, the group reached their summit. That is when the earthquake hit.

Row said: “I was thrown to the ground like a ragdoll," Mrs Smith recalled. "I thought I'd fainted. I was so disoriented and couldn't see anything. I started crying and screaming.”

Nepal earthquake anniversary: one year on

Mon, April 25, 2016

A year after the earthquake and Nepal is still a country of tarpaulins, tents and tin-roofed shack

After flying out on April 19 last year, Row realised how dangerous the trek was to be when they met their guides, Pasang and Raman, who told them they would have a helicopter to airlift them out if emergency struck.

Five days into their trip, Row was suffering altitude sickness and wanted to turn back.

However, a French couple they met on the way up persuaded the pair to keep going. It was a decision that would save their lives.

Six hours later, the group reached their summit. That is when the earthquake hit.

Row said: “I was thrown to the ground like a ragdoll," Mrs Smith recalled. "I thought I'd fainted. I was so disoriented and couldn't see anything. I started crying and screaming.”

PA REAL LIFE

Row and Tom had just reached the peak of the mountain when the earthquake struck

She continued: "Pasang ran to us and said, 'We need to get off the mountain.’” On the way down, Row had to climb over a dead body.

When they reached the village three hours later, they were met by ‘sheer devastation’.

Row recalls: “We found the French guy we’d met before, who’d been travelling with his girlfriend, and he said she was dead.”

The pair remained in the area for three days, living on one potato each and handfuls of rice locals had found. There were 100 other people with them and barely enough food to survive.

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When Row and Tom were eventually airlifted to safety, they were examined at a hospital then flown home. While relieved to be back, they still suffered flashbacks and nightmares from their ordeal.

Row underwent with months of therapy to cope with her ordeal and is now fundraising to help turn her story into a book.

On 30 April, she is holding a comedy event at The Latest Music Bar in Brighton to help gather funds.

Profits from the book, called The Earth Moved, will be split between Community Action Nepal, a charity helping people in Nepal to rebuild their lives, and Doctors For Nepal, which will train doctors to work in the mountain regions of Nepal.

Related videos

When Row and Tom were eventually airlifted to safety, they were examined at a hospital then flown home. While relieved to be back, they still suffered flashbacks and nightmares from their ordeal.

Row underwent with months of therapy to cope with her ordeal and is now fundraising to help turn her story into a book.

On 30 April, she is holding a comedy event at The Latest Music Bar in Brighton to help gather funds.

Profits from the book, called The Earth Moved, will be split between Community Action Nepal, a charity helping people in Nepal to rebuild their lives, and Doctors For Nepal, which will train doctors to work in the mountain regions of Nepal.